Stranding machine spool cradle



Sept. 11, 1951 L. c. FRAZIER STRANDING MACHINE SPOOL CRADLE 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 10, 1949 INVENTOR. Zar yCHcyzr BY a; My

Sept. 11, 1951 1.. c. FRAZIER 2,567,329

STRANDING MACHINE SPOOL CRADLE Filed Nov. 10, 1949 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VEN TOR.

MLM 7 3 Patented Sept. 11, 1951 STRANDING MACHINE. SPOOL CRADLE Larry C.Frazier, Niles, Mich.,. assignor. to. Na!- tional-StandardCompany,.Niles, Mich, a conporation of Michigan ApplicationNovemlier 10,19.49;.Serial No;..12fi,648

6 Claims. 1v My present invention relates to stranding machines. andmore particularly to cradle means for supportingiaaspool of wire formachines; of the-character noted; v

In stranding machines intuseat present, it

2 posedin a helical path in the body of the. cradle, and in which the.wire. tensioning means, in the: form of a dancer. guide disposed.atthewire exit-guidesof the cradle.

A further preferred. feature. of. another em.-

Di is the universali'practice:to*provide cradle means bodiment of. myinventionis to provide. a spool which a: spool of wire isrotatably'supported cradle having a flexible-and hollow. tubehelioal-ly withitsaxis 1 of 'rotationextending transversely disposedin the bodythereof. and mountedatone ofithe. axis. of theicradle=means In suchcon.- end so as tollead the. wirefrom. the spool supstructionsi thecradlei-r-means is journalled' in a 1.0 ported in the cradle outthrough. one. end of rotor meansfandiin the design of. suchmachines thecradle'and with the, other end of the. flexible the axialdengthofi'thespo'ol rotatably supported tube being free for approximately. 9.0? ofthe in"thei cradle means is: a factorinsdetermining cradle soastoimparttheaforementioned spring the: diameter of therotormeans; Thus;in known tension action. in the unwinding of. therwire frommachineshaving'arotorfmeans of'small-diameter, the spoolin the cradle. Iwireh'ol'ding capacity of: the; spool isrlimited due A further advantageof; the aforementioned to thesh'ort axialtlengtrrof theispool.Increasing cradles as. will presently. appear, is that. they of theaxial'lengthof'thee spoolto' increasethe maybe readily. adapteditoeither horizontalor capacity thereof results: in unfavorablei'ncreasvertical types: oft stranding machines. 4 ing" of the diameterof the: rotor means which, The above and other objects features? and athigh speeds; creates'an undesirable centrifugal advantages vof myinvention will appear fromthe force problem; I following-detaileddescription of certain preferred Fhaveconceivedthatttheaforementionedand embodimentsofmyinvention. otherdisadvantages may be overcome and. it Now in order. toacquaint thoseskilled. in. the is an object of my invention: to do so by-providartwith-the-mannerof;constructingand utilizing ing' a cradle means" inwhich? a spool may be stranding? machines andspool. cradles. .in.acrm'ountedf so'that its axis of rotation extends. in cordance with theprinciplesofcmy present. inthe same directionas that of the cradleandvention; I. shall. describe in.v connection. with preferably coaxialtherewith. the. accompanying. drawings certain. preferred It" will bereadily" apparent that when mountembodiments ofmy invention: 5 a ing' aspool in a cradle. as? above related? that In the-drawings: a the axial'length of? the spool doesnot" become Figure 1 is a perspectiveview ofone. form a factor in determining the diameter of the of' acradle meansfor azstranding machine rotormeanst. constructed in. accordancewith.the. principles A: preferred feature: of my: invention resides in of' myinvention; T providing a cradle means having. a substantially Figure 2is: adetail vertical sectional view hollow semi-cylindrical: bodydefined: by athin of the dancer guide .of the cradle, of. Figure shelland'end walls; andzin which the bodypor. 1, with thev-iew beingtaken-substantially along tion of theicradleisonly'of slightlylargerdiame the line 2--2 ofthelatter view,. looking, in. the ter: thanthe; spool diameter which.' enables con- 40 direction indicatedby thearrows; I structiorr or stranding, machines: with rotors of Figure 3 isa side. elevational view, largely m mum e diagrammatic,- ofa standing.machine. of the A: further preferred feature isto provide ahorizontality-pe, embodyingthecradlemeansof CIEdIGTGJSIabOVGnotediha-ving meansrfor. guiding :Figure 1; 1 wire withdrawnrfrom -azspool mounted therein 4-5- Figure 4 is a. detail vertical sectional.view u st y 'p taken along line: 4-4, looking- ,inthe direction Afurther: preferredfeature resides in providing indicated by the arrows,and showingthemanner arad1 ;'as=..1ast referred to; aving means for ofjournalling an endv of the cradle. in.-the.rotor; imparting atensionihg. action to the" wire as it Figure Elsa perspective view of.another form of is'unwound from:the spool nt c adle: cradlemeansconstruetedv inaccordance with my A further preferred featurelofonerembodiment present invention and. which may be susbtituted ofmyinventioni hereinafter: disclosed; is toprofor the cradle meansofxFigureltin the horizontal ride a-cradle as aforesaid in which themeans stranding machine of Figure. 3

fo -guiding the Wirein'its helica-l' path comprises Figures isavperspective view of another 'form aseries of wire guide eyelets. or?the like; dis.- of cradlemeansofmy invention following. in large wirevertical strander in which the cradle means of Figure 6 is mounted inthe lower rotor, and in which the cradle means of Figure"? is mounted inthe upper rotor of the machine.

Referring now particularl drawings, I have shown one form of cradlemeans, indicated generally at 5, constructed in accordance with myinvention. The cradle comprises to Figure 1 of the end walls 6 and Iwhich are joined by a thin semi-..

cylindrical wall 8 defining the body of the cradle. The end walls 6 and1 are formed with end blocklike portions (0 and [2, respectively. Acradle supporting shaft I3 is carried by the end block portion l0 andextends axially of the semi-cylindrical body portion 8. A hollow cradlesupporting shaft I4 is carried by the block-like portion [2 and extendsoutwardly of end wall I, axially of the semi-cylindrical body portion 8and in axial alignment with shaft l3. The shafts l3 and I4 are formedwith annular grooves I5 and I6 which receive hollow cylindrical rubberbushings l1 and l 6, which provide for absorbing shock, and reducingvibration of the cradle when mounted in a stranding machine, as willlater appear from the description of the manner in which the cradle issupported in a stranding machine.

, The end block portions l0 and [2 are, as shown in Figure 1, formedwith suitable openings or recesses 26 and 22 respectively, to providefor the journalling therein of the opposite ends of a spool shaft 23. Inorder for clarity of illustration, the end flange members for the spoolsupported by shaft 23 have been deleted from Figure 1 of the drawings,but it will be understood that such end flanges are provided and areadapted to be disposed closely adjacent the inner surfaces of the endwalls 6 and I. The spool, of

which the shaft 23 forms a part, is detachably mounted inthe endblock-like portions l0 and l 2 by means of releasable hairpin springclips 25 which. as shown, are formed with linear legs 26 adapted toextend through openings formed in the legs 2'1 of each of the block-likeportions l0 and I2. The hairpin spring clips 25 each further include asepentine leg portion 28 for yieldingly retaining them in mountedposition on the cradle, as shown in Figure 1. The spool shaft 23adjacent each of its opposite ends, is formed with an annular groove 30through which the straight leg portions 26 of the hairpin spring pins 25extend to retain the spool in the cradle.

The cradle furtherrcomprises a series of metal .wire guides or eyelets32 arranged to lie in a substantially helical path in the shell 8 of thecradle so that the wire indicated at 35, carried bythe spool mounted inthe cradle, is caused to follow the helical path shown in withdrawing of,the wire from the spool, outlet path of the wire from the cradle theend .wall I is suitably ported, as indicated at 35', to provided for thepassage of the wire therethrough to the guiding wire member 36 of adancer guide,

At the end of the helical indicated generally at 31. The dancer guide 31.as best shown in Figure 2, comprises a guide sleeve 33 threaded in theend wall 1 and in which the guide member 36 is mounted forreciprocation.

the passage of wire through the eye of the wire guide member 36. Fromthe dancer guide 31 the wire is guided through the end block-likeportion I2 through a suitable passageway 45 formed therein and thenceoutwardly through the hollow shaft I4.

It will be observed that in the spool cradle above described, a spool ofwire is adapted to be supported within the cradle, with the axis of thespool of wire extending coaxially of the axis of the cradle, so thatwire is adapted to be withdrawn from the spool in a substantiallyhelical path and through the dancer guide 31 which, as will presentlyappear, provides for effecting tensioning of the withdrawn wire.

Reference may now be had to Figure 3, in which I have shown a pair ofspool cradles of the type described in connection with Figure 1,embodied in a horizontal machine. The machine shown in Figure 3 islargely conventional and comprises a rotor of known construction,indicated generally at 50, which is journalled for rotation at itsopposite ends in bearing assemblies 52 and 53 carried in suitablesupporting frame structures 54 and 55 respectively. An electric motor 56is provided for driving the stranding machine and it has connection byan endless belt 51 to a drive pulley 58 fast to the end of the shaft 56of the rotor 50 mounted in the end supporting frame structure 54. Uponenergization of the electric motor 56, the rotor 50 is adapted to berotated about a horizontal axis in its journalled support in the bearingassemblies 52 and 53. l

The strander illustrated in Figure 3 is a three wire strander andcomprises a tail spool, shown diagrammatically at 60, a second spool 6|and a third spool 62, with the spools 6| and 62 each being suitablysupported in a cradle 5 of my invention. It will be understood that theshowing of a three wire strander is illustrative only, since myinvention may be embodied in machines having any desired number ofspools. The tail spool 60 may be suitably supported in any appropriateand conventional manner and the wire 63 therefrom is adapted to be drawnthrough the stranding apparatus to be stranded with the wire 64 from thespool 6 I and the wire 65 from the spool 62. At the end of the shaft ofthe rotor 50, supported in frame 55, a conventional stranding head,indicated generally at 66, is mounted for laying the wires 63, 64 and 65over each other, and after which the laid wires pass through a closuredie 61 from which the finished strand 68 extends to a bull wheel 63. Thebull wheel 69 is driven in any suitable manner and three or four turnsof the strand are wound thereabout so as to effect drawing of theseveral wires 63, 64 and 65 through the stranding apparatus. Thefinished strand 68 from the bull wheel, is wound on a strand spool inthe conventional way.

My invention is concerned primarily with the arrangement of parts inwhich the spool cradle means 5 is journalled in the rotor 50 and of aspool in the spool cradle means, in view of which the: severalstructural 'details'relating' tothe support-of the tail spool;thejournallingof the-rotor in the supporting frame structure; the drivemechanismfor the bull wheel and other-elements of the stramding machine:are not illustrated ih detail since these are well known expedient's inthe art: I

' The end shafts 13 and I1 of eachof the pair cradles 5 are journalledball bearing assembl ies supported intraverse frame members lliwhich; inpart,- define therotoril: One of these ball bearing assemblies is shownatl l in Figure 4 and it-will be seen that the rubber'bushing' H of theand shaft l3 there shown, is disposed within the inner racemember 12-.It will be understood that the hollow end sliait-l-l ofthe cradle 5 ismounted, likewise, in a bearing assembly so that the rubber bushings- FFand P8 provide a resilient mounting for tliecradlea the shafts I3 and Hare journalled in the rotor about an axis extending horizontally of therotor so that the rotor may be rotated relative to-the cradles 5 which,since their-centers of gravity are disposed below 'theaxis of theshafts'I3" and I are restrained against rotation with the rotor 5G by the forceof gravity. The journalled ends of the spool shaf-ts- 2 3 intheendbl'ock: portions to and I2 permit rotation of the wiresupply spools6t and 6-2 so that these spools may rotate in withdrawing the wiretherefrom:

Thejournall'ed shaftportion 59 of the rotor 21F is formed with asuitable bore through which the:- cradle 5 therefor; through dancerguides-l andihollow'shaft 'l 4-, thenlatera-lly outwardly andthrough-suitable known guides of the rotorin: a :2

cylindrical. path about. the spool. $2: and; diametrically opposite:wire 63:, 'andi thence laterally inwardly and; through. the end shaft.at the rotor 50'; iournalled in: the bearing assembly- 23. torthestranding head. The. wire 65' from. the spool: 62

passes outwardly through the hollow shaft.- Mfol the spool cradletherefor, through the adiacent journalled end ofv the shaft of therotor-'50 and tothe. stranding. head: 35. whereat.- the three: wires arecaused to be laid over eachothergas above related.

From the above description. itwill be observed further. that the.three.- wires drawn fromthe spools 60, 61- and' fizfollow'theconventional-.-paths of conventional forms of stranding. machines.- toeffect the laying of. the. wires overeach othercto create a threewire-strand Referring now to Figure 5, I have shown a modified form ofcradle means indicated genorally at which is the same asthe cradle means5, except for the omission, of the wire guide eye'- lets 32 and. thedancer guide 31,. and: all. other parts of the cradle 15 which are: the;same as those. of cradle 5; are identified by the same referencenumerals as used in describing cradle 5.-

In: lieuof the-wire guideeyelet's; 32: and the; dancer guide 31,.1'propose to provide a. wire. guide and tensioning. means. in. the formofv a flexible metal tube 126- which, as-' shown, has one end: thereofsuitably secured to the block-likeportion 2 in flexible tube 16isadapted' to move axially to and fro of ends of a spool supported inthe cradle andiprovidesfor' applying a spring tension action to -wirewithdrawn f'romthe spool which is carried by shaft 23, as previouslydescribed. The wire from the spool; after passage through the flexibletube 16, passes out through the hollow shaft M of the cradle. In allother respects", the cradle 1 5' is as described in connection with thecradles of Figure- 1:, and the cradle 15 1's adapted to be iournalledina rotor in the manner previously describedin connection with thecradle It'will" be readily appreciated therefore, that the-cradle 15 maybe substituted for the cradle 5 in the stranding machine of Figure 3 andthat the flexible tube 16 serves to function to apply a spring tensionaction to the withdrawn wire from a spool mounted in the cradle I5.

Referencemay now be had to Figure 8; where- I' have shown my inventionembodied in a three wire vertical' 'strander. A three wire verti- 'c'alstrand'er of the typeillustra-ted in this figure isshown and describedin detail in the application of Robert C. Pierce; Serial No; 107,675, filed July 30; 1 949, to which reference may be had. The three wirestrander' shown in'Figu-re 8? comprises an upper rotor indicatedgenerally at 8Z, and a lower rotor indicated generally at The upperrotor 82 provides for the journalld support of an upper cradle 84',shown in detail in Figure and the lower rotor 83 provides forthejournalled support of a lower cradle &5,. as: shown in detail in Figure6. The cradles 84 and 35 are the same as the cradle 5, shown in'E'i'gure: I, but in addition the cradle 84 is proy'iided with. apermanent magnet 86, and the cradle 85' is provided with a permanentmagnet 83E will be observed that the upper cradle 8&1 has the. permanentmagnet: Bil-thereof secured to the block-like end. portion. [2 of thecradle,

and; that the lower cradle 85' has the permanent magnet 81; thereofsuitably secured to the blocklike end portion Hi. of the. cradle. Thesubstantially square cross section of the end block-like portions III]:and l2 of. the cradles provide for the conyenieni; mounting thereon ofthe permanent magnets 86? and 81: so. as to form unitary structures.therewith. The purpose. and function of the permanent magnets 86 and"81' will become apparent from the following description of the generalelements making up the vertical strander shown in. Figure 8. It will beunderstood that the strand'er shown in Figure 8 is largely diagrammaticand only shown in detail insofar as an: understanding. of theapplication of the eradles oFFigures Sand '7' thereto is necessary.

- im thevertical strander o Figure 8 a drive shaft, indicated at 90';has upper and lower positi ve'drive pulleys9-2 and 93 secured thereto.The

drive shaft 90' may be drivenby a suitable drive mechanism (not shown)for effecting rotati'on'of the drive pulleys 9'2 and 93. The upper rotor82 is iournalled in suitable ball bearing assemblies; indicatedgenerally at 98 and 9-1, which may be supported in a forked shapedportion of the main frame structure (not shown) for the machinetoprovide for the support of the rotor. Likewise, the lower rotor 83 isalso journalled in a pair of ball bearing assemblies 98 and 99 whichsimilarly may be mounted in a forked shaped portion of the main framestructure. The main frame structure for the support of bearingassemblies for journalling of the upper and-lower rotors 82 and 83 perse forms no part of my present invention, and in this connectionreference may be had to the above referred tov application. A positivedrive pulley I is secured to the upper rotor 82 and is disposed betweenthe bearing assemblies 98 and 91. A positive drive belt, indicated atI02 is trained over the pulleys 92 and I00 and provides for the positiverotation of the upper rotor 82 by the pulley -92 and drive shaft 90.

The lower rotor 83 has a positive drive pulley I03 secured thereto anddisposed intermediate the bearing assemblies 98 and 99, and a drive beltI04 having positive drive teeth, is trained over the pulleys 93 and I 03to provide for positive .driving of the lower rotor 83. As disclosed inthe aforementioned application, the pulleys 92, 93,

-I00 and I03 are provided with teeth of gear construction as are thepulleys I00 and I03 and which, together with the use of identical beltsI02 and I04, provide for the synchronous rotation of the upper and lowerrotors 82 and 83.

The vertical strander shown in Figure 8, as previously noted, is a threewire strander and includes a suitable tail spool I01; a spool I08journalled in lower cradle 85, the shaft I3 of turn, is journalled in aball bearing assembly in the upper rotor 82. The wire IIO from the tailspool I01 passes through a bore in the lower rotor:83, then laterallyoutwardly in a cylindrical path to the upper rotor 82, then laterallyinwardly and upwardly through the latter to the stranding head,indicated generally at H3, at the upper end of the upper rotor 82. Asecond wire I II for the strand is drawn from the spool I08 through thewire guide eyelets 32, the dancer guide 31 and the upwardly extendinghollow shaft I4 of the lower cradle 85 of the lower rotor 83 and iscaused to follow a substantially cylindrical path about the upper spoolcradle 84, journalled in the upper rotor 82, and thence to the strandinghead. A third wire H2 is drawn from the spool I09, journalled in theupper spool cradle 84 of the upper rotor 82, through the wire guideeyelets 32, dancer guide 31 and thence upwardly through the upwardlyextending hollow shaft I4 and an aligned bore in the shaft of the upperrotor 82 to the stranding head. The three wires IIO, III and H2 arecaused to be laid over each other in a conventional manner at thestranding head II3, as is well known in the art. As before, a bull wheelI I5, driven in any suitable manner, is adapted to have three or. fourturns of strand wound thereon, whereby the bull wheel is adapted to drawthe several wires ,I I0, III and II 2 from the spools described.

. The upper cradle 84, as already noted, hasthe hollow; shaft I4 thereof.iournalled' in the upper rotor -82 so that ,the lattermay rotaterelative theretop Inorderto prevent rotation of the upper cradle 84, apair of stationary permanent magnets I20 are supported by the main frameto lie in a plane in horizontal alignment with permanent magnet 86. Themagnet 88 and mag- ,nets I20 are arranged with oppositely disposed polefaces and the gaps between the pole faces provide for the passagetherebetween of the 'wiresI I0tand III at the upper end of their travelin the above mentioned cylindrical path.

The-lower spool cradle 85, 'as before noted, mounted inthe lowerrotor 83by journalling of the shaft I3-therein so as to provide for rotation ofI the" lower'rotor 83 with respect of the cradle 85. As before, a pairof permanent magnets I22 are provided for cooperation with the permanentmagnet 81 carried by cradle 85.

The stranding machine of Figure 8 further preferablycomprises suitablelight weight wire guide means which may comprise two pairs ofparallekspokes, such as illustrated at I25,'which may-be arranged indiametrically opposed-relation and suitably secured at their oppositeends to the upper and lower rotors to provide for guiding the-wires H0and III in their aforedescribedcylindrical paths. I

A spider I26, illustrated diagrammatically, connects the intermediateportions of the opposed pair of spokes I25 so as to prevent or restrainbowing outwardly of the spokes at their central portions in order. toretain the wires H0 and III in a substantially true cylindrical path inpassing to the stranding head. As before, the

spools I08 and I09 are journalled in the cradles therefor, with theiraxes extending substantially coaxially of the axis of the-shafts I3 andI4 of 'the upper and lower cradles.

Such featuresas the journalling of a spool at one 'end in a rotor, guidemeans such asde- 'fin'ed by spokes I25, and other structural aspects ofthe strander of Figure 8, are not a part of my 'present'invention, andfor a further detail description of such parts, reference may be had tothe aforementioned application of Robert C. Pierce; It is thought thatfor purposes of my present invention, the essential elements of avertical'strander as are necessary to an understanding of my presentinvention, are herein dis- "clo'sed.

'It will be readily understood that, if desired. the flexible tube 16 ofthe cradle shown iirFigure 5 may be substituted for the wire guideeyelets 32 and dancer guides 31 of the cradles -'84 and 85.

While I have shown and described what I consider to be certain preferredembodiments of my invention, it will be readily understood that variousmodifications and rearrangements may be made therein without departingfrom the spirit and scope of my invention.

I claim:

1. A spool cradle for a stranding machine having a substantiallysemicylindrical hollow body portion and end walls, and shaft means forjournalling said cradle substantially coaxially of the axis of said bodyportion,"means carried by said end walls for journalling a spool adaptedto have a coil of wire thereon in said body portion substantiallycoaxially thereof, and wire guide means. mounted on the inner peripheryof said body portion and lying in a substantially helicalpath'for-guiding wire withdrawn from said spool .ialong saidpath; i a

2. The spool cradle of claim 1 in which said wire guide means comprisesa plurality of guide by the provision oi dancer guide means mounted onthe end wall thereof at the outer end 01' the helical path defined bysaid wire guide means.

5. The spool cradle of claim 1 characterized by the provision of rubberbushing means for said end shaft means to provide for the resilientmounting of the same in a stranding machine or the like.

6. The spool cradle of claim 1 in which said wire guidemeans comprisesa. flexible metal tube having a portion thereof lying substantially insaid helical path for substantially 90 of said 10 body portion, one endof said flexible tube having connection with an opening formed in theend 01 said cradle means toward which the wire moVeaand the other end ofsaid flexible tube beingfree for travel to and froaxially of the coil ofwire on said spool.

LARRY cfF RAzIER.

REFERENCES CITED.

The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

